JR (the artist formerly known as Johnny Gumbo) rips Jazz Fest...

This morning brought howling winds following yesterday's (when all my troubles seemed so far away) surprise snowfall.  It also brought an email of blistering criticism towards the 2012 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival:

Piano Shirt Friday shirt

Sorry, JK. Just looked through the line-ups and days and think the first weekend has the second one beat by a long shot. But it also seems they continue to get farther and farther away from the real stuff...the real JazzFest music... cajun, blues, honky tonk, and jazz. Guess you have to play to the masses and get the “pop”. Bring in the dollars. Will be interested to hear your take on the music. Guess I’ll become one of those dis-enfranchised critics. - JR

1st Weekend- Fri Sat Sun
2nd Weekend- Thu Fri Sat Sun

Hey, JR, how are things in the Great NorthLeft?  Since I have always respected your taste in music, your pointed opinions about this year's schedule and the state of Jazz Fest in general bear notice.  Your point about 1st weekend versus 2nd may have some merit.  Let's look at the matchups, noting that weekend two has a four-day to three-day built-in advantage:

• Headliners- Beach Boys, Bon Iver, Tom Petty, Feist, Trombone Shorty, Springsteen, John Mayer vs. Eddie Vedder, Florence + the Machine, Zac Brown, Grace Potter, the Eagles, My Morning Jacket, Foo Fighters, Neville Brothers, Bonnie Raitt.  I suppose I would agree with you here.  The Beach Boys reunion would have some nostalgic/historical interest, though their performance at the Grammys was disappointing; I'd be very interested in Bon Iver because I haven't 'gotten' them/him yet; Tom Petty would be a solid set; Leslie Feist would be fantastic; Shorty is always great; I've become a bit bored by Springsteen (and he did nothing at the Grammys to change my opinion); we saw John Mayer (very good) a few years ago.  Overall, I'd give it a B.  So, compare those with Eddie Vedder acoustic (okay, but Pearl Jam was great a couple years ago); I'm a big fan of Florence + the Machine; I can take or leave Zak Brown; Grace Potter is worth a look; the Eagles could be very good (or possibly just old and boring); I have no interest in Foo Fighters or My Morning Jacket; the Nevilles are the Nevilles (and that's a good thing) and I love Bonnie.  I'd give it a C.  The big disappointment was not getting the Black Keys for either weekend (especially since Dan Auerbach just finished a new album produced by Dr. John).

• The New Orleans standard bearers- This group of Nola musicians perform almost every year, are always great, and there is an effort made to keep them fresh by mixing them with each other and with visiting musicians.  Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Eric Lindell, the Iguanas, Amanda Shaw, Theresa Andersson, Tab Benoit, Sonny Landreth, Marcia Ball, Terrence Blanchard, Galactic, etc. are tremendous.  It's a push (with an A), because you can't lose.

• Looking forward to see-  Texas Tornados (Doug Sahm's old band), Chuck Leavell w/ Bonnie Bramlett, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Janelle Monae vs. Esperanza Spaulding, Mavis Staples, Levon Helm, Steve Earle, Malone Brothers (potential for some great guests), Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings.  Although I'd love to see Carolina Chocolate Drops and Janelle Monae, I've got to give the edge to 2nd weekend here (LOVE Esperanza Spaulding). 

Which brings us to your issue with the state of the current New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the eternal cry of "you're selling out the old fans who made you." My less-than-humble perspective (despite this year being only my 8th Jazz Fest) is that the BIG FESTIVAL business is extremely competitive, and there is an absolute requirement to know your product and your customer.  Being one of the oldest festivals does not guarantee future success, and, when compared with Coachella, Bonnaroo (taken from the Dr. John album Desitively Bonnaroo), SXSW, it can be viewed as a negative by younger patrons.  What makes Jazz Fest unique is its setting, New Orleans- the music, the food, the culture.  Jazz Fest started out many years ago as a copycat of the Newport Jazz Festival.  When did it sell out?  When, after its infant years in the city proper, it tried to get bigger by luring people from outside Louisiana and moving to the Fair Grounds?  Screams of selling out were heard then. Around 2004, like it or not, Jazz Fest was in financial trouble and was forced to change or disappear.  National acts became an important part of the mix.  The purists were disgusted, the soul of the festival had been compromised.

Reality check: we don't live in a vacuum.  It's crazy to think that many of the outside acts that play Jazz Fest have not been influenced by the musical heritage of New Orleans, and, equally important, it's narrow-minded (and wrong) to think that the opposite has not occurred!  As for the scurge of 'pop'ular music infiltrating the Fest, there is bad, good, even great pop music, evidenced by New Orleans' own Fats Domino, Lee Dorsey, Dixie Cups, etc.  Somewhere in my old vinyl collection there is a frayed Sonny & Cher album cover with a picture of a young session piano player named Mac Rebennack on the back.  Hell, Dr. John lives in Connecticut for Christ sakes and Allen Toussaint spends great periods of time in NYC.  It can be a win-win.  I love hearing the reverence for New Orleans from the visiting artists; love having Trombone Shorty show up in a Kid Rock set or Allen Toussaint and Irma Thomas drop in on Paul Simon.  And some the best shows I've seen were outsiders (example: the Ike Turner show in the Blues Tent).

But even if you hate the outsiders, where else but New Orleans can you stop in for the best stuffed chicken wings and Bloody Marys for pre-Fest lunch at Emeril's Nola (where, if you eat at the bar, I've heard you need not tip) or have a heart stopping Lucky Dog with ALL the fixings on Bourbon Street at 3am, or kick a couple of Pool Hall Studs' asses at pool, causing them to whine for the next five years (the very best)?  And where else can you annually avoid running into the lovely (well, maybe not REAL lovely) and talented Scarlett O'Hara and her watermelon hat, toast a few with the Mark, Lisa and their New Jersey crew, and have a great Monday night getaway dinner with our old pals, the Shoe Ladies (complete with Entourage).

The defense rests.